The Meme Complex

[benjaminbp18]

I found this page that talks about how Christianity is ANALAGOUS to a disease. I'm sure we can all picture this in our minds, but take a read, it's quiet entertaining...:)

http://www.bidstrup.com/virus.htm

Enjoy! I'd like to hear your reactions if you have any ;)

[Jennifer]

Ben, you might like the book "Conciousness Explained" by Denett. An arrogantly titled book that actually lives up to its promise.

My frustration with this stuff is that they never offer a cure.

[Philboid Studge]

Only 'analogous'? We have our own Dr. Calpurnpiso on staff here who's pretty sure it's a real dang virus.

[kmisho]

benjaminbp18:
Christianity is ANALAGOUS to a disease
This sort of thing can be good as a joke, and there are some funny bits on the post.

But my reply is fairly simple and I only say it because I think it is something that needs to be said every once in a while. We should not refer to Christianity as a disease, nor should we refer to homosexuals as a plague or a blight on humanity, etc. I don't like these social metaphors for the same reason I don't like the war on terror or the war on poverty or the war on drugs. These are semi-illuminating metaphors at best. The problem is that too often the metaphor is lost and is taken as real. (One could argue that this is exactly what happened to Jesus.)

The result is that there are people who are actually shooting weaponry who think they really are warring against drugs or terror or whatever. By the same token, if Christianity is taken literally as a disease then we should want to eradicate it in a manner typical of disease eradication. Think of what we did to smallp pox or polio or what we would do to aids if we figured it out.

[Mog]

The beauty of the idea of Christianity as a virulent meme-complex is the recognition of other ideas as parts of other possibly virulent meme-complexes including the danger of the Christianity as a disease being taken too literally. So I'm not sure that the metaphor can really be lost if we fully understand this meme.

Theres an interesting guide about how to combat memes here:
http://www.youmeworks.com/meme_war.html

[whoneedscience]

I found this page that talks about how Christianity is ANALAGOUS to a disease. I'm sure we can all picture this in our minds, but take a read, it's quiet entertaining...:)

http://www.bidstrup.com/virus.htm

Enjoy! I'd like to hear your reactions if you have any ;)
I assume you've read The Selfish Gene. If not, you might like Dawkins's on words on the subject:

Faith is such a successful brainwasher in its own favour, especially a brainwasher of children, that it is hard to break its hold. But what, after all, is faith? It is a state of mind that leads people to beleive something - it doesn't matter what - in the total absence of supporting evidence... it is capable of driving people to such dangerous folly that faith seems to me to qualify as a kind of mental illness... What a weapon! Religious faith deserves a chapter to itself in the annals of war technology, on an even footing with the longbow, the warhorse, the tank, and the hydrogen bomb
And as to fighting this disease, he also offers some help:

People believe in evolution not because they arbitrarily want to believe it, but because of the overwhelming, publicly available evidence
If you ask me, I think that means the only way to fight faith is to look for objective evidence through science, which requires an education on a level that most people (Americans especially) just don't ever get. Improved public education is the only way to save people from their own ignorance.

[benjaminbp18]

Only 'analogous'? We have our own Dr. Calpurnpiso on staff here who's pretty sure it's a real dang virus.
:P, that's why I made sure to state that it was analogous so that Cal wouldn't jump up on the case and misinterpret an article like so many times in the past.
We should not refer to Christianity as a disease, nor should we refer to homosexuals as a plague or a blight on humanity, etc.
I agree with you completely, as the case with Cal clearly demonstrates.
If you ask me, I think that means the only way to fight faith is to look for objective evidence through science, which requires an education on a level that most people (Americans especially) just don't ever get. Improved public education is the only way to save people from their own ignorance.
Well said, I couldn't agree with you more.

Wow, thank you for your comments everybody. It comforts me to know that there are atheists who aren't hostile and see religion in perpective and for what it simply is.

[kmisho]

The beauty of the idea of Christianity as a virulent meme-complex is the recognition of other ideas as parts of other possibly virulent meme-complexes including the danger of the Christianity as a disease being taken too literally. So I'm not sure that the metaphor can really be lost if we fully understand this meme.
I suppose I was casting doubt on the very idea of memes. Wouldn't the idea that there are memes itself be a meme? I see this as a big problem.

[Philboid Studge]

that's why I made sure to state that it was analogous so that Cal wouldn't jump up on the case and misinterpret an article like so many times in the past.
Yeah, good luck with that. :rolleyes:

[TheSnake]

If you ask me, I think that means the only way to fight faith is to look for objective evidence through science, which requires an education on a level that most people (Americans especially) just don't ever get. Improved public education is the only way to save people from their own ignorance.
I'd agree that education is really the only way to deal with faith and all sorts of misinformation. Perhaps this explains why there are relatively few religious people in Nordic countries that have a strong public education system compared central European countries and USA.